The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1071: Nara Group Castle

Hugo made a grand gesture as they stepped through the portal. “Welcome to the Nara Group Castle. It doesn’t belong to any of the Guilds, it’s cooperatively owned by the Alliance itself, with hired staff to maintain it.”

In front of Karl was an enormous stone building, six stories tall and large enough that it rather resembled a warehouse with a stone wall around the parking lot.

“Call it ostentatious, but with ten Mythic Ranked members, over sixty Totems, and two hundred Overlords, among our combined one thousand members, we have plenty of big egos to cater to, and this location is closer to the Dungeon that the group controls than any of our individual Guild Houses.

Now that you’re members, we will arrange a section of the building for the Darklight Host members to use when they are in the area. The layout is somewhat unique, as you will see once you get inside.

The Lake Naraleddum region is a haven for the desperate and the overconfident, as there are also dozens of minor Dungeons in the area, mostly Monarch Ranked and higher. There is a magical map on the wall, showing which ones are active and which are on timers, as Guild Alliance groups trigger the cooldown on many of the Dungeons, the same as Guild members clearing the instance do.”

The big mage stopped to catch his breath, and a group of dragonkin servants came running out to greet them.

“These are some of our apprentices. Guildless hopeful adventurers who work at the Alliance house for job experience and the chance to get taken on as a porter, which comes with loot rights to dungeons.” Hugo explained.

The Dragonkin warrior, a teenaged boy at the Commander Rank, nodded enthusiastically.

“The Dungeon doesn’t put a minimum Rank on entrants, so we can do the looting, collect materials and carry items for adventuring teams who don’t have inventory space.” The boy explained.

“No inventory space?” Karl asked in confusion.

Hugo shrugged. “Some classes get strange inventory options. Some get a chest, some only get a few dozen spots to place items, and if they carry a lot of random junk, they’re always out of space. Do you have a lot?”

Dana snickered quietly at the thought of all the loot that had to be hiding in the beast spaces, but Karl just nodded.

“The System considers me a sort of support class, so other than my bonded items, I have a number of chests, each one larger than the one I got the rank before.”

Not that he used them much. In fact, they were ninety percent empty, with only two even being used regularly.

For items to be upgraded and finished items, naturally.

Deve wrapped an arm around Karl and Dana’s shoulders, as they were standing together, and led them forward.

“Just wait until you get settled in. It’s going to be great having actual crafters in the Alliance. Tell me, Miss Dana, how are you at dealing with pathetic pleading and tears?” He asked.

Dana laughed. “Surely, with so many dungeons, things aren’t that dire.”

Deve smirked back at her and ran a hand through his curly brown hair. “Sure, if you’re a Monarch or Overlord and willing to risk your life for the one in ten chance that someone in your team will get a decent item from a Dungeon run.

I know that this might come as a shock to you all, but most people have no intention of going into the Dungeon in Poor Quality trash drops in order to get the gear they need to get into a better group.”

Dana winked at the Druid. “That’s what we have Karl for. The Monster Man can solo a five-person dungeon on his own Rank, so we’re relegated to the role of moral support and security for the healers.”

Deve thought about her comment for a second, then realized the imbalance.

“He’s got the beasts with him, and they all count as him, so it’s only one person to the Dungeon. Oh, that is pure evil. Queen Remi should be able to summon Bodyguards, right? Most Queens can.” He asked.

Karl nodded. “It’s a very useful skill.”

“We should get you a spot for the monthly Totem Run. It’s a forty-person group dungeon, so there’s always room for more without things getting crowded. It’s also well suited to the Darklight Host, as it supplies a lot of the resources that we sell to keep things running here.

The trick is that it only opens once a month, and it can only be done by members of the same Guild or Guild alliance.”

Karl nodded. “So, there can’t really be weak Guilds outside an Alliance because they’ll miss out on the biggest opportunities. I am assuming that the Mythic Rank Dungeon is much more exclusive, but the Totem Ranked ones should be something that most groups can do with some effort.”

Deve nodded. “Most of the larger Totem Dungeons are Guild locked. The five-person runs are all open, and the vast majority of adventurers do arranged or pickup groups. But honestly, the loot is awful.

For the most part, a Dungeon drops equipment a full Rank below its difficulty, and only the bosses have a chance to give items of Rare or Epic Quality.

So, doing Overlord Ranked Dungeons mostly drops Common and Uncommon Grade Monarch Ranked gear. Which, compared to the cost of living here, is worthless.”

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Dana looked confused. “How can the cost of living be high here? I mean, If you’ve got Totem Ranked Dungeons, actually living here should be the smallest of concerns.”

The Mythic Guild Leaders all laughed at her naive view of how things worked in Sholaha.

“Tax is by the head, and by the square metre of land owned. And the Immortal Monarch doesn’t want us hoarding wealth and taking over, so they set it for Mythic Warriors, and then discount it by Rank. So, a menial job here actually pays an insane rate, but three quarters of it goes to the tax collector.

Or you work for a Guild, or Guild Alliance, who pays your head tax as part of your employment.” Hugo added.

The Dragonkin apprentice nodded. “With meals, rooms and taxes included in our pay package, we can focus entirely on our growth with the money we make, and just send a cut to the Guild.

I swear, the Alchemists have a racket going. Every Rank, the supplements and buff potions get exponentially more expensive.”

Remi looked up in her space. That was excellent news.